An instrument panel comprises a certain number of indicators: tachometer, gages, odometers or alternatively indicators indicating parameters regarding the status of the vehicle or the engine. This list is not exhaustive.
According to the prior art, the indicators usually involve pointers. They have movements for driving the pointers past screens marked with other indications on a front face of the support. All of this is located behind a nonreflective protective screen fixed to a covering case known as the flange.
This type of instrument panel occupies a certain amount of space. To solve this problem, the applicant company has already, in its French patent application published under No. 2 779 682, proposed a solution for a flat instrument panel. This instrument panel has indicators with pointers arranged directly against the front face of the instrument panel, behind the latter. Thanks to this arrangement it is possible to produce a very flat instrument panel that can easily be sited inside the cabin. In particular, it can be taken out of the dashboard.
There now exist instrument panels the indicators of which are liquid crystal displays. Such displays are well known as is their use in the automotive field. These may be dot or matrix displays, of the monochrome or color type. The instrument panel is then embedded in the dashboard.